The Dream That Sleeps
by the bird of the chapel
Summary: Dennis and Sawatari become good acquaintances after a brief conversation in the Leo Corporation tower. Oneshot.


The room hummed with the sound of the air conditioner high above from the thirtieth floor of the Leo Corporation tower. Electronic billboards and advertisements scintillated by the high-rise buildings around the emperor structure, looming over the numerous roads carved from the same soil, walked and stepped on by insignificant strangers whose eyes turn to one direction and whose lips move to the concert of ardor. Light coruscated off the glass panelings to wash out the face of a boy's reflection. Upon the dive of a large bird, its glancing shadow on the glass unveiled the boy's haughty look. Beside it, another reflection emerged, one more transparent and painted over by the light that its face was indistinguishable. But Sawatari knew who the flaming orange hair and dual-colored suit belonged to.

"Good morning," greeted Dennis, not short on his courtesy.

Sawatari stood on one leg, a hand on his pocket as he turned around. He sized Dennis before acknowledging him with a smirk to Dennis' smile. "Hmph. As expected, you didn't chicken out."

"Ha! After being honored to become a Lancer by the President himself? No way."

Sawatari's smirk grew. "What was that? A confession from a fan? You're an embarrassment, Dennis Macfield."

"Hey, I wasn't prepared for the awesomeness of the President. He never used a single extra deck summoning method before. It caught me by surprise. And don't tell me that didn't affect you either," teased Dennis. "It must have been intoxicating just watching so much of that power in one duel."

"Yeah," admitted Ssawatari, his smirk disappearing. "It was annoying to see the rival who defeated me lose too, but I had expected as much. There's no way Sakaki Yuya could have won."

"Really?" Dennis' eyes widened with interest. "Talk about a lack of faith. Have you dueled the President before?"

Sawatari snorted. "No. And I'm not dumb enough like Yuya to do so. Listen carefully, Dennis Macfield. As a professional Entertainment Duelist, I only have one piece of advice to give you: start your career by knowing your place. I was born with greatness, so I already knew that I belonged among the top, but some talentless people cheat and take the shorter path. How? They're born _lucky_ , just like Akaba Reiji. He got lucky and was born with power. But him being ahead of me is temporary. I'll catch up with my hard-earned skills and achievements. Take Yuya for example. Once I've gotten my hands on Pendulum cards, I sped right past him and became number one. It's all about hard work."

"I lost track of how many times you contradicted yourself," said Dennis, wholly amused.

"You get what I mean."

"Maybe half of it," he said, laughing. He bent over a bit as if to confide a secret. "Though, I do have to say, I still hear a lot of your duel with Yuya. Well, mostly I hear about people applying for Lancers, but I heard a great deal more of it before that."

Sawatari sneered at the electronic billboards flashing LDS' commercial. "They've already missed their chance. With me in the team, our strength is beyond that of Academia. The Lancers will become obsolete. When that's over—" he wrapped a strand of his gold bangs on his fingers and twirled it, "—I'll give them another unforgettable show. It's unfortunate that I have to make them wait while I attend to this little detour."

"You don't sound remotely afraid," observed Dennis. "You know, I'm the only international duelist left standing. The Knight of Duels were carded and the two others are still missing. And I hate to say it, but I did lose to the lady Serena. Things could have gotten really bad for me."

Sawatari stared at Dennis with his mouth slightly opened. "What can I say," he boasted, wrapping up a shaky smile, "I'm a bold, daring duelist."

Dennis held his hands behind his back and tilted his head as Sawatari looked away with an out-of-focus gaze. _I didn't mean to scare him,_ he thought, feeling bad.

"Oh, I tag teamed with Yuya during the Battle Royal!" exclaimed Dennis happily. "We performed beautifully. Too bad we didn't have an audience to get our blood boiling."

"I saw," said Sawatari. "Don't worry, the audience was on fire. Not as crazy as _our_ duel, but it was praise-worthy. Yuya was performing badly. As his mentor, I appreciate the guidance you gave him."

"Mentor? Isn't he from You-Show Duel School? Wouldn't his mentor be his father?"

Sawatari shrugged. "He looks up to me. Maybe he saw that I've surpassed his father."

Dennis chuckled. "If that were the case, then you've surpassed me too. Sakaki Yusho is my inspiration just like how Yuya is to you."

"He's not my inspiration!" blurted Sawatari angrily. "He's rude, arrogant, and has no manners! He's a pig in front of women! A cheater! A liar!" Sawatari pursed his lips tight. He was so red he might be puffing steam from his nostrils. "If you love the coward so much, what are you doing in LDS? Not that I think it's a bad decision. LDS is the best dueling institute."

Dennis blinked. "Coward? Sakaki Yusho?"

"Yeah." Sawatari looked at Dennis dubiously. "What kind of fan are you? Didn't you know that he made a no-show in defending his title? He was so scared he ran away from town and never showed his face in public again."

"Oh, that. Hmm." Dennis snapped his fingers. "It's a magic trick, I bet. Sakaki Yusho's disappearing act."

"Yeah, right."

"It's what magicians do." Dennis grinned. "Fooling the audience and revealing the impossible in front of their eyes."

"You should be in that magic show duel school. You sound like a sneaky rat."

Dennis waved his hand. "They fight with tools. Entertainment Dueling is all about fighting with your friends. With your monsters.'

Dennis hadn't expected Sawatari to laugh. He saw Serena glance toward their direction at the corner of his eye.

" _Friends_? I think you're confused. They're not real no matter how smart they act. You can't call those things your friends."

"Do you consider them as tools?"

Sawatari considered for a moment. "Tools can't think on their own. I consider them more as...servants."

"...I'm not sure how different a servant is from a tool that can't think for itself. In the first place, I they're not real, how can they think on their own?"

But Sawatari was too pleased with his respond to consider the argument.

"Oh well, I guess we'll just have to see which of us put on a better show. The servants of the Sawatari Theatre or the friends of the Dennis Macfield's Magic Show."

"What are you babbling on about?" said Sawatari to Dennis' bemusement. "We're not going to Academia to entertain them. We'll be there to defeat them and win. Get a reality check. It's not always going to be fun and games."

"Ah."

"But your challenge has been noted," he continued. "Once we've crushed Academia under the leadership of Sawatari Shingo, I will do the same to you in front of a crowd larger than before."

"Oh?" said Dennis.

Sawatari grinned. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm looking forward to it for a bit. You should feel honored to be considered so worthy. Our monsters and wits will clash in an epic duel of ideals. Whose bond will reign supreme? Sawatari's loyal servants or Dennis' tight-knit friends?"

Dennis smiled widely. "That would be great, wouldn't it? What about a three-way battle? A fight between Entertainment Duelists."

"Yuya? Ah..." Sawatari dramatically swept his hand across his hair. "The rogue student of Sawatari Shingo who has embraced his darker side and is seeking to destroy his loving mentor. Sawatari's tortured soul must go through so many treacherous trials. _Yes_ , it could use more angst." Sawatari gave Dennis an approving look. "You're not half-bad. Once this is all over, we'll do as many shows as we want. It will be remembered as the Sawatari Generation: The First Wave of Entertainment Duelists."

"We'll have a lot of plans to make, huh? Yuya will need an update."

Sawatari frowned. "Speaking of which, where is _he_? He and that oaf are the only ones who haven't arrived. It's rude to make a lady wait."

"I assume you're talking about Serena, and not yourself."

At that exact moment, the door opened. Yuya entered alongside Gongenzaka, whose face was splattered with band-aids.

"You're late, Sakaki Yuya!" yelled Sawatari across the room. "You're 100, 000 years too early to make me wait."

Dennis, still smiling, gave Sawatari a look. "When you put it that way, I can't tell if he's too late or too early..."


End file.
